Shoulder and armhole construction for garments and method of making the same



"1953 F. COSTANZA 2,

SHOULDER AND ARMHOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR GARMENTS AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed April 20, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. fkAA/K COSTANZA 2,866,203 NTS F. COSTANZA Dec. 30, 1958 SHOULDER AND ARMHOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR GARME AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1956 A m m m 1 k M .N

United States Patent 2,856,263 Patented Dec. 30, 1958 SHOULDER AND ARMHOLE CONSTRUCTION FOR GARMENTS AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Frank Costanza, Los Angeles, Calif. Application April 20, 1956, Serial No. 579,568 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-93) This invention relates to the tailoring of the shoulder and armhole portions of garments, particularly coats.

An object of this invention is the provision of an im proved tailoring method by means of which the shoulder and armhole portions of coats may be constructed to maintain the desired shape and position without sagging or wrinkling.

It is another object of this invention to provide shoulder construction which acts as a resilient support for i111- parting to and maintaining in the shoulders the desired form and position.

It is another object hereof to provide a new method of basting the parts for forming the shoulders and armholes of coats and the like, such method providing an inherent resiliency and a supporting action in parts of the shoulders to impart the desired shape and position of the shoulder armhole portions.

A further object hereof is the position of a new method of forming the shoulder and armhole portions of coats, which entails the basting of the parts forming the shoulders and armholes from the inside thereof, that is, while the coat is turned inside out, then applying the finishing stitching and thereafter inverting the shoulder and armhole portions of the coat.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of one embodiment of the invention. For this purpose there is shown a form in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. This form will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principle of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a coat having a shoulder construction embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a shoulder pad that may be used in carrying out this invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially exploded to show the relative positions of the garment parts employed to provide a shoulder construction in accordance with this invention, as such parts would appear before all thereof are basted together.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary elevational view showing how the parts illustrated in Fig. 4 are basted together in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a side levation of a coat as turned inside-out for producing a shoulder construction in accordance with this invention, and illustrating the basting of which makes possible shoulder construction; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary rear elevation of a coat showing shoulder and armhole construction made in accordance with this invention.

The present invention relates to the manner in which the outer fabric 1 of a coat or similar garment, the canvas backing 2, the shoulder pad 3 and the lining 4 are assembled and united to form each shoulder and armhole of the garment.

In carrying out this invention the outer fabric 1, canvas backing 2, pad 3 and lining 4 are assembled with the lining 4 uppermost and, the shoulder pad 3, the canvas backing 2 and outer lining 4, arranged in the order named, beneath the fabric 1. The shoulder pad 3 may be basted as at 5 to the canvas, as shown in Fig. 4, before assembling the parts as above noted.

With the lining 4 uppermost and the other parts arranged as above noted, the shoulder and armhole portions of the garment are now basted in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described, from the inside of the coat, that is, with the shoulder and armhole portions disposed uppermost in the convex form shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7. In this basting operation the basting threads pass first through the lining 4, then through shoulder pad 3, the canvas backing 2 and garment fabric 1 in the order named.

Upon completion of this basting from the inner side of the shoulder and armhole portions, the parts of the garment are held properly assembled for the finishing stitching.

Following the finishing stitching, the garment is inverted to bring the garment fabric 1 outermost and the lining 4 innermost, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this inverting of the garment, the surface of the shoulder pad 3 which was outermost and convex when the basting took place, becomes the concave inner surface of the pad, whereas the surface of the pad that was concave during the basting, becomes the smooth and uniformly positioned convex outer surface of the pad.

Heretofore, the basting of the parts forming the shoulder and armhole portions of a coat or similar garment was effected from the outer side, that is, the garment fabric side. As a result of this prior method of basting, the shoulder pad takes a form which produces a downwardly and outwardly inclined and slightly concave shoulder line along the top of the shoulder, as indicated by the dotted line A in Fig. 8. Moreover, shoulder and armhole formations as heretofore basted, become wrinkled around the armhole portion and tend to sag after several normal cleanings of the garment. In a shoulder formed in accordance with the present invention, the top line B along the shoulder is comparatively straight and free from sagging or any appreciable concavity.

In inverting the coat, as in the present method, the inner or concave side of the shoulder pad 3 becomes somewhat fore-shortened and formed with a series of folds C which act as resilient supporting portions maintaining the upper surface of the pad in proper convex form free from sag or wrinkles. The outer or upper surface of the shoulder pad 3 as presented when the coat is inverted following the inside basting operation, constitutes a smooth and convex and sufliciently rigid support for the shoulder portion of the outer fabric of the garment, to impart thereto the desired shoulder shape and formation without sagging or wrinkling.

In accordance with this invention, the garment parts are arranged as shown, for example in Fig. 5, and the first line of basting 7 secures together the inner or upper portion of the shoulder pad 3, the lining 4, canvas 2 and the garment cloth 1. This line of basting is L- shaped, and has one leg substantially parallel with the shoulder seam 8 and the other leg substantially parallel with the seam 9 between the canvas and the collar 10 and extending forwardly toward the lapel 11.

Following the basting along the line 7, the parts are basted across the shoulder pad in opposite directions from the shoulder seam 8, in arcuate lines 12 and 13' ex tending beyond the pad. Next the parts are basted on a line 14 parallel with and to the rear of the shoulder seam 8, from the top of the armhole 15 to the collar seam 9. After this the parts are basted on lines 16 around the armhole.

Fig. 6 shows how the basting threads first pass through the lining 4, then the pad 3, the canvas backing 2 and the garment cloth 1. The pad 3 is in substantially the position and condition shown in Fig. 6, following the basting operation, the longer surface of the pad, in cross section, being then outermost and convex.

As the finishing stitching is effected in the conventional manner and forms no part of the inside basting method embodying this invention, no description of the finishing stitches is believed to be necessary.

When the coat is inverted after being basted in' accordance with this invention, the surface of the pad that was convex and longer transversely of the pad during the basting, becomes the shorter, inner surface of the pad, whereas the surface that was the shorter, inner and concave surface during the basting, becomes the longer convex and outer surface of the pad.

As a result of this method of basting and the inversion of the pad after basting, the pad is given considerable body and stability as Well as inherent resilience, assuring that it will maintain the desired shape and position of the shoulder and armhole portions of the coat. The series of folds C formed in the inner surface of the pad in the inverting thereof, serve as spring or resilient supporting rib portions to assure that the pad will act as an effective support maintaining the desired shape and position of the shoulder and armhole portions.

I claim:

1. A methods of forming shoulder andarmhole por-.

tions of a garment which includes the steps of: assembling a garment cloth, a canvas backing, an arcuate shoulder pad having one surface longer than the other and a lining as required for the formation of a shoulder and an armhole of the garment, with the lining uppermost, the shoulder pad next below the lining, the canvas backing below the pad and the garment cloth beneath the canvas backing; holding such assembled parts so that the upper surfaces thereof are substantially convex and the lower surfaces thereofare substantially concave; basting said parts together while thus held, by basting first along the shoulder seam and along the collar seam respectively in an L-shaped line, basting across the shoulder seam and the shoulder pad in arcuate lines, basting parallel with the shoulder seamfrom thearmhole portion to the collar seam, basting around the armhole portions of the assembly; applying the final stitching to such parts; then inverting said assembly so that the garment cloth is outermost and the lining is innermost and the shorter surface of the pad is uppermost to produce a tight top surface for the pad to support the fabric of the coat and a wrinkled lower surface for the pad adjacent to the lining.

2. A shoulder and armhole construction of a garment comprising: shoulder and armhole forming garment cloth portions; a canvas backing adjacent to said garment cloth; an arcuate shoulder pad adjacent to said canvas backing; and a lining; said pad having outer and inner arched surfaces engaged with said canvas backing and said lining respectively; said outer surface being smoothly arched; said inner pad surface being arched and being of a greater length than said outer surface; said inner surface having a plurality of wrinkle-like folds therein providing resilient support for said shoulder pad, and said lining being engaged with the arched inner pad surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,170,960 Bellfort Aug. 29, 1939 2,222,120 Purves Nov. 19, 1940 2,317,373 Giuseffi Apr. 27, 1943 2,676,328 Skirow et a1. Apr. 27, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 118,799 Sweden May 20, 1947 Patent No 2, 866,203

December 30, 1958 Frank Costanza Column 2, line 9, be

strike out all to and including "fabric In carrying ad 3 and lining 4 ad 3, the canvas as backing 2, p

Signed and sealed this 21st day of April 1959.

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL H. AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Oflicer Commissioner of Patents 

